Music Lockers

A friend E-mailed me this. Thought some infoorooers might be interested. I'm still living in the stoneage so didn't help me any.

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Unlimited Storage Free Music Lockers
February 13th, 2007

MP3tunes is announcing free, unlimited storage music lockers
<http://mp3tunes.com/signup> for everyone. Oboe - our music locker
technology - has been out for more than a year. We've refined the
process and are ready to invite the world to come create an Oboe music
locker. Sign-up now <http://mp3tunes.com/signup> to realize the benefits
of online storage. Here's a Q & A about Oboe Free, our new music locker
with free unlimited storage.

*Q*: Why is the Oboe Free music locker a significant development?
*A*: This is the first time a free music locker with unlimited storage
has been made available. Users sign-up with a valid email address and
then load their Oboe Locker with their music using the free Oboe Sync
software for Linux, Macintosh or Microsoft Windows. Once loaded, users
stream their music from any browser <http://mp3tunes.com/demo> or from a
growing list of mobile devices <http://mp3tunes.com/m> - and can also
sync to another computer. Oboe Sync will even add cover art for all your
albums at the end of the sync process. We've also added our number one
feature request of scheduling so a locker sync can happen in off-peak
hours when your computer is normally idle.

*Q*: A free music locker - what's the catch? There must be a catch.
*A*: The Oboe Free offer is a free music locker with unlimited storage
and unlimited bandwidth for streaming or syncing. This is not a trick
where you can upload your music but then can't download it without
paying. No credit card is required. There are some limitations, but most
users won't bump into them. For example, individual files must be under
10mbs and digitally restricted files (DRM) will not be synced since they
cannot be played back.

*Q*: Does MP3tunes have massive storage to support the wave of traffic
that you get from new users signing up?
*A*: Our system allows us to deploy new servers every day. As we expand
capacity we grant more Oboe Free lockers with unlimited storage. It's
similar to how Google allocates gmail accounts as they add servers. The
difference is we do not have invitations. All are welcome to sign-up and
accounts are granted on a first-come-first-served basis. Everyone
immediately gets a 1gb free locker so they can begin using it right
away. As we deploy servers, our system automatically sends an email
alerting a user that their account has been upgraded to unlimited
storage, giving priority to anyone using their 1gb of storage.

*Q*: Didn't MP3tunes previously charge $40/year for an unlimited storage
music locker?
*A*: Yes, and we still have a premium locker for $40/year with unlimited
storage.

*Q*: Why would someone pay $40/year if they can get the same music
locker for free?
*A*: The lockers are different. Oboe Free lockers are advertising
supported meaning there will be graphical and audio advertisements
embedded in the experience. So Oboe Free users should expect
advertisements interspersed into their music experience. There are
storage differences as well – an Oboe Premium locker can store bigger
files and DRM songs such as iTunes and Napster purchases. Oboe Premium
locker purchasers also get priority access (no waiting for an invitation
to an unlimited storage locker) and personal customer support.

*Q*: Why is MP3tunes offering free music lockers now?
*A*: Our goal is to store the entire world's music library and we can
only achieve this if we have an advertising based locker in addition to
our $40/year offer. In addition we have a system that can grow with
demand by adding new servers each day. We've also worked diligently to
streamline the Oboe syncing process. Only 0.24% of users have problems
loading their Oboe Locker. That's a very small number given the wide
variety of music files that users are now loading to lockers over
different network connection speeds, operating systems, naming
conventions, bitrates, and formats. This is another way of saying our
technology is sturdy and ready to handle lots more users.

*Q*: How can MP3tunes afford to pay for the storage and bandwidth to
provide free music lockers?
*A*: It's true that storage and bandwidth can be expensive today but my
belief is that it won't be nearly as expensive in 2-5 years. When you're
building a business you have to build for where the world will be, not
necessarily for where it is today. What may be a big infrastructural
investment today will parlay into a valuable business in a few years. By
then we will house millions of music lockers where people will play
their music on all net connected devices (computers, phones, PDAs, music
appliances, TVs, etc).

*Q*: How can you be sure that storage and bandwidth costs will come down
to make your business work?
*A*: When I started MP3.com <http://www.mp3.com/> in the late 90s I did
something revolutionary and unprecedented. I offered free web hosting
with unlimited storage and bandwidth to any band that would give away a
promotional song. At the time storage and bandwidth were expensive (much
more so than today). Experts told me I'd go bankrupt, but I knew the
prices would come down. There's no sector more competitive than the
technology industry and my gamble paid off. Although there was
substantial storage and network expense, I created the world's largest
digital music site. Today the tradition of free band hosting is carried
on by major community and media sites with MySpace <http://myspace.com/>
being the most notable, but there are many others such as purevolume
<http://purevolume.com/>, SoundClick <http://soundclick.com/>, and even
YouTube <http://www.youtube.com/> which hosts music videos
<http://youtube.com/watch?v=waia83h6Y2k>.

*Q*: If I sign up <http://mp3tunes.com/signup> today for an Oboe Free
music locker, when can I expect to be granted unlimited storage?
*A*: You will immediately get a 1gb locker which you can begin using
instantly. From there it depends on the number of users in front of you
and how late our system administrators work to deploy new servers.
Remember priority is given to people that use a portion of their 1gb.

-- MR
// <http://www.michaelrobertson.com/archive.php?minute_id=232>
The views expressed herein are those of Michael Robertson and do not
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the views of any of his affiliated companies.

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